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Alberta

THE HALFTIME REPORT News from the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame

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Message from the Hall

We’re so excited, Alberta. Every day that goes by brings us one step closer to reopening. But be assured that safety will be priority number one when we can finally reopen. Keep checking our social media feeds and website for updates on our reopening plans. We can’t wait to share all of the changes with you.

This newsletter is sponsored by Premier Building Solutions

Future Events

Currently On Hold

As per the current Covid -19 Guidelines, all in-person events are on hold – be sure to check back here once restrictions are lifted for a list of exciting events happening at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Look here for future events

New WHL Award named in recognition of Honoured Member Bob Ridley

Medicine Hat, Alta. – The Western Hockey League announced March 1st the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence, a new WHL Award which will be presented annually to a distinguished member of the radio, television, and print journalism industry in recognition of their outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.
Original WHL Article:
http://https://whl.ca/article/western-hockey-league-unveils-bob-ridley-award-for-media-excellence

Provincial Sport Organization of the Month: Baseball Alberta

Baseball Alberta had its birth in the early 1900s, known at that time as the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association. For much of the early 1900s, the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association focused solely on Junior and Senior levels as they oversaw the leagues and Provincial Playoffs.

By 1964, the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association began organizing baseball in the province at all levels from Pee-Wee to Senior. The Provincial Government saw the need to provide travel funds for teams travelling to Westerns and Nationals in 1970. Very quickly baseball began taking off, as in 1971 there were already 104 communities involved with 539 teams registered.

In 1986 the Alberta Baseball Association adopted the name Baseball Alberta as its working name of choice. Today, Baseball Alberta is a leader in developing and promoting baseball on the Local, Provincial and National scene.

Baseball Alberta has been a National leader in developing items such as the Canadian Rule Book, the first National Baseball Week, Baseball Canada Pitch Counts, Girls/Women’s Baseball, the NUCP and NCCP, the Respect in Sport initiative, the Rally Cap and Grand Slam Programs.

There are now close to 100 associations registered with Baseball Alberta from all parts of the province and has over 15,000 players registered and playing baseball.  Baseball Alberta prides itself on providing the opportunity for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to participate in the game of baseball.

This Month in Alberta Sports History

On March 3, 2019, the 27th Canada Winter Games wrapped up following an incredible two-week run in Red Deer. Approximately 2,400 athletes representing all ten of Canada’s provinces and all three territories took part in the event, which began on February 15. Team Quebec finished on top of the podium with 146 total medals, with Team Alberta in second with 100 total medals, and Team British Columbia in third with 87 total medals. Away from the sporting venues, the Games also featured a rich arts and cultural festival.

Artifact of the Month

Artefact: Silver Chalice Trophy
Accession #: 2001.15.08
Year: 1940s-1950s
Description:
The Alexandra Hotel Trophy was awarded to athletes competing in the Calgary Ladies Fastball annual championship between 1945 and 1956. Across the wooden base, there are seven small plaques with the names of the winning teams and the year of the championship. This trophy is made from silver and is shaped in the traditional ‘chalice’ style. Cup-style trophies began to appear at sporting events as early as the late 1600s. Since then, trophy style has changed considerably; with various shapes and designs found in modern trophies. The classic chalice-style, however, has remained one of the more popular choices in marking victory.

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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.

An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.

On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.

“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.

Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.

“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”

After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.

Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.

He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.

In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”

“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.

Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.

Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.

The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.

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Alberta

Heavy-duty truckers welcome new ‘natural gas highway’ in Alberta

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Clean Energy Fuels CEO Andrew Littlefair, Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose, and Mullen Group chairman Murray Mullen attend the opening of a new Clean Energy/Tourmaline compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Deborah Jaremko

New compressed natural gas fueling stations in Grande Prairie and Calgary join new stop in Edmonton

Heavy-duty truckers hauling everything from restaurant supplies to specialized oilfield services along one of Western Canada’s busiest corridors now have more access to a fuel that can help reduce emissions and save costs.

Two new fuelling stations serving compressed natural gas (CNG) rather than diesel in Grande Prairie and Calgary, along with a stop that opened in Edmonton last year, create the first phase of what proponents call a “natural gas highway”.

“Compressed natural gas is viable, it’s competitive and it’s good for the environment,” said Murray Mullen, chair of Mullen Group, which operates more than 4,300 trucks and thousands of pieces of equipment supporting Western Canada’s energy industry.

Right now, the company is running 19 CNG units and plans to deploy another 15 as they become available.

“They’re running the highways right now and they’re performing exceptionally well,” Mullen said on Oct. 22 during the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the new station on the northern edge of Calgary along Highway 2.

“Our people love them, our customers love them and I think it’s going to be the way for the future to be honest,” he said.

Heavy-duty trucks at Tourmaline and Clean Energy’s new Calgary compressed natural gas fuelling station. Photo courtesy Tourmaline

According to Natural Resources Canada, natural gas burns more cleanly than gasoline or diesel fuel, producing fewer toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

The two new CNG stops are part of a $70 million partnership announced last year between major Canadian natural gas producer Tourmaline and California-based Clean Energy Fuels.

Their deal would see up to 20 new CNG stations built in Western Canada over the next five years, daily filling up to 3,000 natural gas-fueled trucks.

One of North America’s biggest trucking suppliers to businesses including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway and Popeye’s says the new stations will help as it expands its fleet of CNG-powered vehicles across Canada.

Amy Senter, global vice-president of sustainability with Illinois-based Martin Brower, said in a statement that using more CNG is critical to the company achieving its emissions reduction targets.

For Tourmaline, delivering CNG to heavy-duty truckers builds on its multi-year program to displace diesel in its operations, primarily by switching drilling equipment to run on natural gas.

Between 2018 and 2022, the company displaced the equivalent of 36 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of diesel that didn’t get used, or the equivalent emissions of about 58,000 passenger vehicles.

Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose speaks to reporters during the opening of a new Tourmaline/Clean Energy compressed natural gas fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline

Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose noted that the trucking sector switching fuel from diesel to natural gas is gaining momentum, notably in Asia.

A “small but growing” share of China’s trucking fleet moving to natural gas helped drive an 11 percent reduction in overall diesel consumption this June compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“China’s talking about 30 percent of the trucks sold going forward are to be CNG trucks, and it’s all about reducing emissions,” Rose said.

“It’s one global atmosphere. We’re going to reduce them here; they’re going to reduce them there and everybody’s a net winner.”

Switching from diesel to CNG is “extremely cost competitive” for trucking fleets, said Clean Energy CEO Andrew Littlefair.

“It will really move the big rigs that we need in Western Canada for the long distance and heavy loads,” he said.

Tourmaline and Clean Energy aim to have seven CNG fuelling stations operating by the end of 2025. Construction is set to begin in Kamloops, B.C., followed by Fort McMurray and Fort St. John.

“You’ll have that Western Canadian corridor, and then we’ll grow it from there,” Littlefair said.

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